The Plain of Jars
by Nuova Luna
Summary: Set a few months after the events of Angel of Darkness, Lara cannot help becoming intrigued with ancient artifacts again no matter how hard she fights it. Traveling to South East Asia she tries to uncover the secret of the harimau ring and the Plain of Jars in Laos. An adventure that takes her from bustling cities to infamous tombs.
1. Chapter 1

**The Plain of Jars**

_While the story is all my work and imagination the character of Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider franchise belong to Core Designs, Edios, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix._

**Chapter 1**

February, it is a strange month, not quite winter, not quite spring. A purgatory month that brings with it hope of a new start as old demons fight their way back to the previous year. As a cold sunlight filtered through the dusty window you could be sure that today was a day of change. Only a squeak of a leather glover and the sound of a heavy oak door opening punctuated the silent February reflection.

"Miss Croft I am pleased you were able to come at such a short notice", the shadow spoke standing into the dusty light. The woman who sat in the chair by the window, legs kicked over the arm, glanced towards him nonchalantly, reviewing the stocky middle-aged man who had perhaps traded his sense of humour for throughly British manners.

"It wasn't as though I was given choice now was it Mr Flynn? Or may I call you Earl? You know I hate formalities". Lara swung her legs off the arm of a tatty olive-green chesterfield chair to lean forward to provide a perfect inquisitive stare.

"Yes well formalities aside I called you here as I want you to do me a favour".

"Doesn't everybody", exhaled Lara sliding back into the chair, this was obviously going to be one of those meeting, thirty minutes long and too many adjectives of situations Lara wanted nothing to do with.

"I wouldn't know Miss Croft, I tend not associate myself with some of the clientele I have heard you like to spend your time with", Earl quipped staring back at Lara before delving into his desk and pulling out a blue file.

"Touché"

Ignoring Lara's snappy comment Earl proceeded to take photos of giant stone jars out of the file laying them on the desk before taking a piece of paper out littered with unintelligible scribbles and hand drawings. This caught Lara's attention more than she wanted to, she hated having someone else in the deal with her, always means at least fifty-fifty if not more for the greedy bastards who do nothing except drop tidbits of information then wait for her to come back with the goods. Yet these images looked intriguing if not strangely familiar.

"Have you heard of the Plain Jars in Laos?" asked Earl passing Lara one of the photos.

"I have actually, can't say I have visited but I do remember them from my University days", said Lara.

"And you know about the Ancient King Khun Chung?"

"Yes the name rings a bell, had a nastily long war with his enemy didn't he? He used these jars to store lao lao wine in?"

"Well yes that is how the legend goes, however my team have recently uncovered some new information that may place Laos in quite the archeological spotlight. Although there have been many digs there from the 1930s it is still a mystery what these jars were actually used for. They are all lidless, however they have rims that looks as if lids were meant to fit on them. Anyway some of my students were on a sponsored dig looking for evidence of the lids when one of them found a chunk of sandstone in site one, Ben Ang, the biggest of the sites with 250 jars. To be honest this was one time where I wished she hadn't listened to ethics lectures".

"Why is that?" Lara enquired.

"While she was cleaning the sandstone she noticed it had an unusual shape." Earl passed a photo across the desk. "As you can see it is very smooth with a faint neat circle cut at the convex with a dent at the side. Now my student thought this was part of a lid and started to clean it up for indexing. As she cleaned she noticed that the crack moved very slightly so she gently extracted the two piece from one another; inside was a ring set into the stone. A beautiful ring made of gold and rubies together shaped as a tiger. When worn it looks as if the tiger is curling around your finger".

"Do you have a photograph of it?" asked Lara peeking up from the previous photograph.

"No, unfortunately the supervisor took it away. I only have her description to go off, she was rightly concerned because it was a find that could make her a fantastic career. I have had a look in the library and all I can find is this small lithograph. As you can see it is somewhat different to the description my student gave." Earl passed Lara a small book bound in red cloth opened to show the image.

"I can see what you mean" Lara exclaimed, "This ring looks much more like a jumping tiger with one ruby, or a single jewel at least".

"Exactly, this ring is the harimau ring that is believed to be the treasured possession of King Khun Chung, apparently the wearer could transfer knowledge from one person to another. An ancient copy and paste system in a way. The King used it wisely to increase intelligence among a select group of soldiers and scholars who then travelled and taught communities valuable skills such as reading, writing and medicine. As I said however the ring _is_ different to the description so I cannot be fully sure what we are looking for." Earl sighed. "Who knows it could be something else entirely".

"We? I have agreed to nothing yet Earl".

"Lara please, you would be doing me the biggest favour".

"So you want me to get it for you...I'm sorry I am not that kind of archeologist", Lara snorted pushing her chair back and beginning to walk towards the door. After Paris Lara was done with doing favours for others, they only lead to messy situations. She was certainly intrigued by the proposition but hated the way it was portrayed as a favour. Feeling mixed emotions Lara briskly clicked open the lock before pausing to decide whether slamming the door was a good idea or not.

"You are quite right Miss Croft you are not an archeologist, you are a tomb raider", Earl shouted towards the half-closed door. Lara stopped and quickly crept back around the door looking up at Earl in a quizzical manner.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me", whispered Earl, "you are not an archeologist Lara not matter what your official career title tells the world. You are a tomb raider and you know it".

Turning back Lara gathered her steps and cooly walked back to the chair now flooded in cold February sunlight highlighting her brunette braid.

"I'll admit Earl, you are certainly a good observer of character. However as I remember you didn't invite me here to confirm a character reference, you had a proposal for me yes? Not a favour, I don't do favours any more." Lara glared from the doorway at Earl.

"I thought you weren't interested Ms Croft".

"That was before you so favorable commended my career", Smiled Lara sitting back down, analysing Earl through her eyelashes.

"I called on you Lara because of your previous, shall we say, expeditions. You left the university a few years before I started, nevertheless I have heard great things about you. Some not so good but we shall ignore those".

Lara sniggered, she knew exactly what Earl was referring to. Sure not all her archeological techniques would be considered legitimate, okay perhaps ninety percent of them, but she found the goods right? Pondering such thought she looked back into the frosty street through the window. All those people, walking around oblivious to what happens in these buildings, they look up but never truly see anything...

"Ms Croft are you listening?"

"What on earth makes you think I wasn't?" Smiled Lara breaking her gaze from the street and focusing fully on the task at hand.

"Nevermind", Earl continued shaking his head, "I need you to go to Singapore, that is where the ring is located at the minute"

"So it has already been moved from Laos?"

"Yes, A Mr H. Wright was sponsoring the dig. He's a big power in the mineral mining business and now lives in Singapore with his new wife sorting paperwork from the Asian office. He's been everywhere, Nigeria, Bolivia, Canada, Armenia and of course Laos; the list is endless".

"What has this got to do with the harimau ring though?"

"Well you see, Wright took a few optional classes while he was at University, geophysicist by trade but a keen treasure hunter in his spare time. He wrote an essay during his time here for one of my modules he took, detailing quite proficiently links between legend and reality; what he expected to find there which was of course the harimau ring of King Khun Chung. He seemed to know too much even then. Wright also owns a quarry site in the province of Xieng Khouang, where the jars are found, a sandstone quarry if I remember correctly ", Explained Earl diving once again into the blue file for more photographs. This time instead of a ring the images showed grainy footage of said quarry and postcard worthy pictures of the lidless stone jars buried into a field.

"Convenient", Lara mused taking the photos from Earl.

"My thoughts exactly, which is why it is important to remove the ring from his power".

Lara looked up at Earl, judging every facial movement he made.

"What does the ring have to do with you Earl? I mean it is all well and good that this is a powerful artifact, but I'm curious to the reason you want it." Lara asked quizzically, "and if I find it why should I give it to you? You know my history, too well perhaps, and you still trust me?"

The question took Earl by surprise as he widened his eyes trying to compose an answer that did not reveal too much.

"Mr Wright was once a student of mine when I lectured at Oxford, as I have mentioned previously. He was clever, yes very clever; but he was careless at the same time. He knew too much of himself and during private meetings I never felt at ease with him".

"You had private meetings with him?" asked Lara raising an eyebrow.

"Well yes, essay evaluations, general questions, that kind of thing." Earl stumbled.

"Looks like you were taken for a ride then"

"Perhaps, look Ms Croft the reason I want you to do this is because I know you can do it. That ring has great powers and in the wrong hands it is a deadly weapon. He is a ruthless business man, he has no appreciation for repercussions of the historical kind. Mr Wright looks forward not backwards and that will cripple not only himself but the whole nature of society if he is able to harness the power of the ring.

"And if I get it you know I'll probably want to keep it" Lara indicated, smiling again at Earl, "I like collecting things".

"Ms Croft that is an issue that warrants a discussion when you are sure you are able to get it for me. Lets just say the ring chooses its owner, not a person owning the ring". Earl said wearily. He glanced back at Lara to find her deep in thought.

"Interesting. Both the level of trust you have in me and the ring itself"

"Maybe," Earl shrugged, "but weren't we all tomb raiders back in the day?"

Lara looked up and met his eyes indicating a brief acknowledgement. Standing up she peered again through the dusty windows to the London street below bustling with shoppers and tourists.

"Singapore you said?"


	2. Chapter 2

Exiting the airport Lara inhaled a deep gulp of Singaporean air; the humidity filled her lungs creating an almost instantaneous dewy layer form over her aircraft weather skin. Opening her eyes, she strode forward into the night tugging her medium-sized black leather suitcase behind her. From the corner of her eye Lara happened to catch sight of an enthusiastically waving young man, a few years older than herself, motioning her to come across. Well, Lara thought jokingly, if his son has that charade of a car I am paying Winston far too much!

"Lara! Over here!" The man shouted, continuing to wave with both hands until those around him began to look upon him with quizzical expressions.

"Hello Russell, it has been too long!" Greeted Lara smiling back before dropping her case and embracing Russell in a friendly hug. This served to not only say hello, but also to try to stop his incessant waving!

"It has indeed, get in the car and you can fill me in with all the details," gestured Russell as he opened the boot to load Lara's case.

"Are you sure you can manage that?" Asked Lara humorously leaning against the car.

"A case? Lara come on!" Russell laughed bending down to pick up the handle. Expecting it to lift like a normal suitcase, he confidently began to rise. However the case was a lot heavier than he realised which caused a great deal of strained faces and shattered pride. Determined not to give up in front of his longtime friend he tried again to pull the suitcase up the side of the car to no avail.

"Damn it Lara, what do you have in here?" Puffed Russell thinking he should maybe swallow his pride...again for Ms Croft. _Always happens!_ Russell thought, I_ can never do the chivalrous option with her. I rarely even get the chance!_

"Oh just bits and bobs, some light reading mostly," smirked Lara watching Russell's failing attempts to roll the suitcase into the boot.

"This...Is not. Gasp. Light reading." Russell gulped as he gave up his attempts at lifting the suitcase. Dutifully Lara picked up the case and slung it into the boot making the car appear tilted just by the sheer weight of it. Typical Lara, though Russell shaking his head as he watched her smugly get into the car.

Lara fascinated Russell ever since he spent some time with his father, Winston the Croft's butler, when he was eleven years old. On Russell's first visit to the mansion, Lara had shot him with a toy arrow square in the cheek; fairly impressive for a six-year-old! Angrily Russell tried to throw the arrow back at Lara, which missed and accidentally knocked an eighteen century Japanese vase off a side table. Blame was laid on Russell with Winston telling him that "Lara was only little, you shouldn't be throwing things at her". Russell had never forgiven her for that, especially the smirk as she trotted back up the stairs, bow in hand. Nevertheless their relationship improved greatly over that summer resulting in the longest friendship Lara ever had.

Lara found Singapore to be an interesting place, although it is a modern city-state and nowhere near the types of locations to often frequented. There were no ancient tombs or extremely old buildings, but what there were was artifacts of the society kind. She was fascinated how traditions from a variety of ethnic backgrounds had lingered on, bubbling around in a cultural hot-pot to produced the most unexpected results. Looking through the car window Lara observed the bright, gaudy lights of Orchard Road with thousands of shoppers worshiping at the temple of the credit card.

Smiling to herself Lara recalled a fond memory of an old family visit to Singapore when she was only eight. Her mother had tried to get her to wear a hideous pink dress from Tangs, the most impressively stocked department store in Singapore. It was a vain attempt her mother had to get Lara out of her favorite khaki shorts that she had worn all summer while visiting her father on an archeological dig in Egypt. Lara, however was having none of it, she hated the dress, so she promptly escaped from the changing room. A perfect maneuver of jumping from the bench to the top of the stall and then dropping down into the next unoccupied changing room. Overjoyed that her mother hadn't a clue she had escaped as her mother was far too busy talking to the sales assistant about the adorable children's clothes on offer; Lara quickly dashed downstairs to the food hall to gorge on dim sum telling the chef that her mum had told her to order the food and that she'd be down in a minute to pay. It was safe to say that her mother was furious when after twenty minutes of searching, she found Lara happily eating shouting to the chef, "Oh, here is my mum! She'll pay you now!".

Sighing, she wished her parents would speak to her again, but Lara hadn't spoken to them for ten years now after she denounced her engagement to the Earl of Farringdon and ran off to Peru to begin her tomb raiding career away from stuffy British society. She didn't know where to start even if a mutual agreement could be made. Not even a Christmas card exchanged between the two Croft houses these days. _Don't be so sentimental_, Lara scolded herself, _I am no longer their daughter and I certainly don't need them._

"So, What are you doing here Lara?" Asked Russell breaking Lara from her internal argument.

"Long story Russ, one I am not wholly sure of; I just know I need to meet someone here," answered Lara rubbing her temples.

"Do you know him?"

"No, well I know of him, I know his Asian office is here. He is a British geophysicist who is investigating some sandstone sites in Laos."

"Have you arranged a meeting then?" Continued Russell checking Lara through his rearview mirror.

"No. I need to find him first. Even then, I am not sure that finding him is the problem. I just don't know what to expect when I do find him".

"Geologist people were always a tricky lot! I remember from uni, they loved getting on their high horses!" Russell joked laughing to himself.

Lara showed a strained smile before returning again to the view outside the car window. Instead of bright, shining, advertising light screens the view now reflected a much older Singapore with shophouses and the odd brilliant white colloquial house nestled at the end of a street.

"Hmm...Singapore isn't exactly your usual haunt." Russell observed creasing his brow hoping she'd spill a few more details.

Although Russell was an old friend, Lara felt awkward talking to him about the mission. She felt he didn't deserve to become embroiled in an unknown, possibly dangerous situation simply because he was her friend in the right area, at the right time. Furthermore Earl wanted no-one to know about this, Lara mused, and I would rather work by myself so there are fewer complications. An image of Kurtis flashed in her mind before being vigorously shook out as more sentimental nonsense. I don't need anybody.

Since Lara was growing tired of the conversation, Russell drove on in a stagnant silence until he could no longer stand the awkwardness drifting around the car.

"Are you sure you are okay staying by yourself? You know you could have stayed with me and Steph", asked Russell cautiously.

"No, no," Lara shook her head, "I would be in and out anyway, so your house would probably feel like a hotel".

"Okay then, if you are sure. Dad said it was odd packing you off to a city." Smiled Russell, looking again into the rearview mirror, the only way he could see her true reaction.

"I don't always party with the ancient guys, Russ." Lara grinned, he was sometimes annoying but he could certainly bring a smile to Lara's face, rather like his father.

"Yeah sure," Russell laughed, "if he hasn't been dead for at least a hundred years you don't want to know".

"You have spent far to many hours in my company!"

"Probably," Russell agreed as he turned a corner on to Beach Road, pulling up outside a grand white building flanked by flame palm trees, so-called because of the way the leaves create a fanlike shape from the trunk to the sky. A kind faced gentleman walked towards the car dressed in a white suit as he started to lift Lara's case from the boot of the car.

"See, he can do it," Lara jokingly whispered, causing Russell to start rubbing his face in an effort to forget the previous suitcase debacle.

"Ms Croft," The gentleman greeted, "welcome back to the Raffles Hotel".

Raffles hotel oozed history with its beautiful tropical gardens and over a century old white walls. Ascending the marble stairs to her room, Lara looked out to the nearest garden which had a group of young people happily throwing coins into the fountain. By their accents she knew they were British, probably university students. A knot tied in Lara's stomach at the thought of university, remembering Earl and the reason she was there. This was not a holiday, this was business. _Pretty dirty business_, Lara thought as she entered her room which was flooded in darkness until the accompanying butler turned the dimmer switch slightly. Waiting for him to exit Lara sat on her bed wondering what she should do first. Unpack, obviously.

Walking towards a grand rosewood table, she leant on its weight to steady herself in preparation for breathing in the sweet, sandalwood scented air that filled the room. Slowly she bent down to take off her boots; high-heeled boots nonetheless. She loved the amusement Winston had of seeing her in heels, but how else was a girl supposed to get two pistols through airport security! Picking one boot up she hit the heel hard on the edge of the table to reveal the secret compartment to take out her guns before storing them in the wardrobe with her holster.

Retrieving her laptop from her hand luggage, Lara logged on to hopefully find some more information about the elusive Mr Wright, in particular a location or contact detail, something to go off. Lara groaned at the screen, this was Paris all over again. Why did I agree to this? Running around a damn city like a common thief. Deep down she knew why, it was a new adventure and this urban trail would end up in Laos and an investigation of the Jars somewhere along the line. An email alert pinged into the quietness of the room, upon opening Lara found that the email was from Earl:

_Dear Lara_

_Hope your flight to Singapore went smoothly, I remember how difficult it could be traveling with 'additional items'. Anyway I have recently heard from one of my students at the dig that Mr Wright, or Hadrian as you may wish to call him with your fondness for birth names, is hosting a business lunch at the Bayside hotel on the 16th November, so if you are reading this on arrival it will be in three days time. Please lie low until then! I have attached a document from the university that says you are contributing researcher who is reporting on the profits of sandstone mining, you are a geologist before you ask, NOT ARCHEOLOGIST. This is very important as Mr Wright is wary of any archeologist who is not monitored, certainly one has never been allowed in his business meetings. A pass can be picked up from the hotel reception tomorrow (14th November). _

_ You will also find attached a new image of the harimau ring I have been able to find. It is a lot closer to the student description and there is a small passage of writing which you may find interesting._

_Good Luck Lara_

_Earl_

_[This email is intended for the addressed individual only. Please disregard if received in error. Any problems can be reported to the University computer service department]_

Staring into the screen with a blue light shining on her face in the dim light, Lara reread the email again to consider her next move. She had three days to delve deeper into the harimau mystery and the slightly obnoxious sounding Hadrian Wright; the more Lara found out about him the more she started to despise his pompous nature. Opening the picture attachment she found a much clearer image of the ring, this time a beautiful line drawing that looks as if it were taken from a personal journal. _Where is this image from?_ Lara wondered as she zoomed into the annotation, handwritten as she expected:

"_What a curious ring! A great tiger of the East that was found in Laos, site 32. Appears to be forged from gold and rubies. Time wise we are still unsure however we guess before the birth of our lord, nevertheless it is wonderfully preserved for something of that age dug from the earth herself."_

"Curious," Lara muttered as she closed her laptop making a mental note to email Earl later to question the origins of the image after a brief sleep rid her hanging jet lag.

A knock on the door changed Lara's plans.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

The knock startled Lara from her jet lagged state; thinking hard she tried to remember if Earl said anything about someone visiting. He didn't, just the package at reception. Knock, knock. Quickly grabbing the first gun she could reach in the wardrobe Lara sidestepped towards the door while effortlessly sliding the pistol down her back and into her jeans waistband, flicking the tee shirt back into place before peering into peephole. There was no-one there.

"Who is it?" Lara enquired, trying to not sound threading incase it was very short butler, an unlikely chance, Lara thought, but you never know. No answer came back.

"Seriously, just say who the hell you are or go away," Lara's efforts of being confrontational were quickly disappearing. There was still no reply from the other-side of the door.

"Oh forget this," Lara muttered grabbing the door and pointing the gun at what she thought would be a person; but all Lara was aiming at was a palm tree across the walkway, nothing or nobody lay on the other-side of the door.

"How strange." Lara lowered her gun to look around, there was no evidence that a person could have been there moments ago. Brushing it off as tiredness, Lara turned back into the room to find a small book nestled on the pillows of the bed.

"What the..." Lara ran to the bed and picked up the book, "Fables of the Orient," Lara read, "where have you come from?" Thumbing through the biscuit coloured pages, one page was neatly folded down marking the start of a new story. Tutting at the unknown person who tarnished a perfectly good book, Lara began to read the marked page. "The Tiger under the Table. Once in the glorious land of Singapura tigers ran free, living alongside man. Beautiful, strong beasts, that with mans extending arm of influence into the jungle, began to turn on its countrymen". Lara continued to quietly read until she reached a paragraph that particularly piqued her interest. Blinking a few times wondering to herself why she had never thought of this famous story before now.

"In 1902 the last tiger in Singapura was shot by a patron in the grand billiard room of Raffles Hotel. Although some believe this event took place in the Long Bar. Of course!" Lara exclaimed, "Harimau is Malay for tiger and Singapore, or Singapura was once a Malay kingdom. So did the ring originate here? Is that why Hadrian has returned to Singapore?"

With questions still buzzing around her head Lara flicked through the book once more to find any more clues that could have been left by the mysterious book defiler; retuning to the story she noticed that some of the words were underlined. "K and Long Bar," Lara thought out loud, "the Long Bar is here, that makes sense, but K? What could...oh no, no, no, no." Lara shook her head violently throwing the book on the bed. "It couldn't be, he wouldn't!" Running out the door and down the stairs, Lara burst into the Long Bar frantically scanning the room.

"Excuse me miss are you okay?" Asked an elderly woman whose cocktail was nearly knocked away in the Lara whirlwind.

"Yes, yes. Have you seen anyone else in here? A man, black hair, American...bit smug?" Asked Lara not even looking at the woman who was gradually trying to create a bigger distance between herself and the strange woman who had just blustered through.

"No...I can't say I have, is he your partner?" The woman stuttered.

"Wh-what? No ," Lara continued through the bar scanning the patrons, Kurtis was not one of them.

"Damn," Lara whispered as she walked to the bar to order a signature Singapore Sling. Taking her drink to a table she slumped into rattan chair to think through what had just happened.

"You bought your own drink? That's a shame," a voice came from the corner. Turning Lara found Kurtis sat sipping a Black Russian looking as smug as ever.

"What. The. Hell. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Doing," steamed Lara almost throwing the chair across the room as she sat opposite Kurtis. "You are dead!"

"Evidently," Kurtis mused as he carried on sipping his cocktail.

"Go and be dead somewhere else then!" Lara harshly whispered, "I haven't got time to be messing around with you". Kurtis raised an eyebrow over his drink.

"Oh don't be disgusting, you know what I mean".

"I do unfortunately, so Lara, what are you up to these days?" Questioned Kurtis stretching his arms up into the air.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that, Mr dead book defiler? What do you want"

"Haven't a clue, but saying you thought I was dead you have a lovely way of greeting an old friend".

"Alliance," corrected Lara.

"Can't ask for much else," Kurtis said, cocking his head in a mock thought. Lara continued to stare at him, "I don't have a clue what you are going on about, I don't defile books".

"Then how did a book turn up in my room with nobody there to deliver it and the letter 'k' and 'Long Bar' underlined?"

"Seriously Lara, I didn't do that. I didn't even know you were here. I was on my way to Australia and this is my transit. I am leaving tomorrow." Kurtis explained.

"Then why are you here at the exact moment that a book just happens turn up in my room?"

"I'm not, that 'k' could mean anything. Look it's good to see you because I never thought I'd see you again but I didn't do anything. I don't know why you are here instead of being a mummy botherer, but it is certainly nothing to do with me."

Kurtis was serious and Lara could tell, but in her mind the facts didn't add up. It was strange that he was here at the exact moment with clues leading her to him.

"How did you survive?" Lara asked much calmer than at the start of the conversation.

"Luck. I don't remember much, I just woke up in the back streets of Paris. I have no idea how I got there. I was pretty worst for wear...actually you have something of mine".

"The chirugai? It's at home, would you like me to courier it over to your permanent alive address?" Lara sarcastically suggested, tucking her legs under her.

"If you don't mind," Kurtis replied in a similar tone. "Lara what's up?"

"Nothing".

"Then why are you here?"

Lara looked up from twirling a straw in her drink, I am doing this by myself I can't deal with anyone else disturbing my work...but Kurtis, what harm...no, no I can't.

"Lara? Tell me if you are in trouble," Kurtis asked reaching across the table to offer a friendly hand.

"I'm not. I'm just on business," Lara snapped pulling her hand away.

"What kind of business?"

"Just some usual artifact hunting in Laos, this happens to be my transit as well".

"Anywhere I know of in Laos?"

"Maybe, look I don't want to bother you any further, I think I should go," Lara said standing up and pushing her chair under the table.

"Lara".

Lara turned around to see Kurtis looking visually worried, "I know what I am doing, you however need to learn how to contact people. See this?" Lara picked up Kurtis' phone that was on the table, "This amazing invention lets you talk to people; you might want to try it one day. Enjoy Australia". With that Lara walked out of the bar leaving Kurtis to return to his drink. Picking up his phone up off the table he dialed a number and leant back waiting for an answer. A few seconds later an Australian woman answered the phone.

"Good evening Mr Trent, how can I help you?"

"Change of plan, I'm not flying out tomorrow and I don't need your services anymore".

"Very well Mr Trent, I will have the billing details sent to you by tomorrow".

"Fine". Kurtis ended the call peering at the gaping space which was the inside of his wallet. "As if".


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

"Here you are Ms Croft, this is the package that was left for you," the smiling receptionist declared as she pulled out a large padded envelope from under the dark wood desk.

"Thank you...you don't happen to know who left it do you?" Lara asked ask she took the envelope, studying the postage marks.

"Just our usual couriers Ms Croft, I am sure whoever has sent this package has left a note inside". The receptionist continued to smile at an increasingly painful rate.

"Right, then," Lara flicked her eyes upwards returning a hesitant smile, "I am sure they have". Of course Lara knew the package was from Earl, the previous email had explained every detail, yet there was still a doubt that snapped at her heels that the package was not from Earl alone.

It was a typical humid Singaporean day where the heat seemed to mold itself around your body like an extra set of clothing. Although there was a small breezed that tickled itself through the flame trees and around the eleven o'clock human traffic on Beach Road, it provided Lara with little escape from the sweltering heat. Not wanting to tempt fate after the Kurtis incident in the Long Bar, she made her way to a small kopitaim, a traditional Singaporean coffee-house. In two days time she had her meeting with the infamous Hadrian and his gaggle of understudies, it was safe to say that Lara thought that the meeting was an unnecessary blip between her and the ring.

The Hi Sung kopitaim was a wonderful place that provided an ideal escape from the hustle and bustle of the street outside. Slipping through the narrow yellow door frame Lara found a vacant table with a wonky metal chair that looked liked it once belong to a dressing table than a coffee shop. Without hesitation she grabbed a few of the stiff napkins that sat proud of place in the centre of the table and placed them under a chair leg to minimise any potential seasickness alike notions! After ordering a traditional kopi and kaya combo, a heady mix of thick sweet coffee and chunks of toast smeared with coconut jam, Lara began to slowly open the package curling the string around her finger as the package opened. Peering in Lara was slightly disappointed, it was just a pass with the university's logo. No extra photographs or details as she had hoped.

"Miss Lucy Cavatar...Do I look like a Lucy?" Lara said disgustedly throwing the plastic covered name tag at the table. She was more outraged at the choice of name than the woefully empty package. _Two days_, she thought, _then I can finally start to track the __harimau_ _ring._

**ooOOoo**_  
_

"Miss Cavatar, I am so glad you could join us. I hope Singapore is treating you well," Hadrian announced as Lara walked through to the boardroom. Dressed in a smart grey pencil skirt and a green blouse she exuded authority as she raised her hand to meet Hadrians' offered gesture.

"Of course, I am sure you will as well Mr Wright," Lara smiled cocking her head so her ponytail swished on her shoulders.

"Only the best intellectuals are invited here, so you can be sure of a suitable environment".

Lara instantly disliked Hadrian, he seemed too sure of himself, a little cocky, just as Earl said. The suit was pristine, the hair a light brown with golden flecks and the smirk indicated a hidden knowledge that Lara was intrigued to dig deeper in.

"Kate Achett is over there, I am sure you have met her before as she works in the same department at Oxford as you. So nice when you meet someone you know isn't it?" A smirking Hadrian claimed as he waved to a rather plain-looking women in the corner.

_Oh great...  
_

"Really, Mr Wright I see enough of her during the week...I would rather talk to you instead," Lara stumbled trying to save her alias before the meeting had even started.

"Really now, how interesting," Hadrian mused as he put his hand on Lara's shoulder, "unfortunately there are other people in the room, but I am sure you will find something interesting". Lara dropped her shoulder so the clammy hand could slide off with little intervention, this is not going to end well, she thought.

"I will indeed".

"Ah Kate! Lucy is here why don't you two colleagues sit together". Nervously Lara turned to the approaching fair-haired woman who was beginning to look very confused at the situation.

"Ah Kate what a surprise!" Lara improvised. _This ring had better be all it is cracked up to be..._

"Lucy...you erm...are looking good lately."

"Not too bad yourself Kate, let's go and sit down shall we? I am very interested what Hadrian is presenting," Lara motioned at the seats as Hadrian began to sort his papers out.

"I bet you are _Lara_" Kate whispered as she sat down.

"Lucy, my name is Lucy. Very nice to see you again." Trying to save the situation was becoming more of a challenge than Lara imagined.

"Don't mock my intelligence Ms Croft, I have seen your name in journals about your questionable discoveries. This is real science here, not faux discoveries. Don't you have some grave robbing to be getting along with?"

"You little s..."

"Welcome everyone to my luncheon, I know you have probably only come here for free food!" Hadrian laughed at his little joke, "but as you know we have some serious business to solve in Laos".

"You write down one word of this presentation and I will have no shame in outing you ," Kate sneered. Looking up in a mocking way, Lara began to write in large, expletive words precisely where she believed Kate should stick that comment.

"It's okay, I have photographic memory," Lara whispered, the tone of her voice full of satisfaction.

The rest of the lunch revealed very little much to Lara's disappointment. She quickly realised that she was getting bored with the city life, nothing was happening. The trail to the ring was still a mystery and Lara saw no reason to still be in Singapore. Beginning to regret her decision to undertake the task she picked up her belongings and started to walk towards the door.

"Excuse me Miss Cavatar?" Hadrian shouted towards the door, "do you have a moment to spare?"

Now what, Lara thought as she slowly turned around. "Yes, can I help you?"

"I think maybe you can," Hadrian smiled, "I have found something of interest, a particular mineral in Laos, I was wondering if you could take a look?"

"Sounds interesting, send me some details over and I'll take a look."

"No, no I have the samples upstairs in my room. I'd rather you have a look now than in England. You know, academic red tape and all," Hadrian knocked Lara's arm jokingly making Lara squirm inside by his overt friendliness.

"Right, great. I just need to pop to the bathroom do you mind?" Lara smiled hiding any elements of doubt she had.

"No, No you go ahead. It's room 842, a lovely suite that I am currently living in. I'll rustle up the samples and maybe a drink if you are lucky".

"Oh what I lucky lady I'd be," Lara grinned edging towards the door.

As Lara charged along the white-walled corridor it became clear that Hadrian was a tricky character with many hidden motives. As for Kate, it was typical that Lara ended up with the one person in the room who would not play along. Not that it bothered her, she had the biggest laugh of the day insulting the little empress of geology. Pushing into a dark green door to enter the bathroom, Lara entered a stall and threw her bag on top of the cistern. Pausing for a minute to listen for any sign that somebody else could be in another stall, Lara carefully extracted her pistols from the lining of her bag and placed them in her holster that was sewn into her skirt waistband. Putting her grey jacket back on and exiting the stall Lara began to plan her explanations for the sample of dirt that Hadrian had for her. That is if he even has a sample, Lara thought questioning his motive for inviting her to his temporary home. She didn't believe for one-second that a sample was in Hadrian possession and she was preparing herself for every eventuality.

Every eventuality apart from a ringing phone at the bottom of her bag.

"Oh for gods sake," Lara muttered slamming her bag on the sink and snatching her phone up to look at the screen.

"Well done on finding both the on button and the contacts list in the same day, but phone me back later I'm busy at the moment." Lara briskly told the unwanted caller.

"My mother always told me I was special," smiled Kurtis.

"Special is the right word, I'll phone you later".

"Wait, wait hold up we need to meet up again, there's something I need to show you".

"Kurtis, not now I'm in the middle of something important," Lara sighed running her finger around the sink eager to end the call.

"When then? When and where can I meet you?"

"I'm not flying to Australia. End of discussion."

"I'm not in Australia..." Said Kurtis cautiously, squeezing his eyes shut knowing exactly what was coming next.

"... Excuse me?"

"I'm not in Australia"

"Kurtis Trent if you are simply breathing in the same country that I am in, I swear I will kill you."

"Oooh I love the full name," Kurtis smirked down the phone.

"Where are you?" Lara asked ignoring his failed attempt at flirting.

"Well I'm in a lovely little coffee shop near to..."

"The short answer Kurtis," Lara was becoming increasingly aware of the amount of time she was wasting in the bathroom when she could be upstairs hopefully finding a trail to the harimau ring.

"Singapore," Kurtis said sheepishly.

"I knew it!" Lara shouted hitting her fist against the sink, "please do not say you stayed here for my benefit".

"Well...no, not entirely".

"That's a yes then; look I'll meet you later in the Long Bar again. You can tell me exactly why you have not gone to Australia and show me what you need to and then you can leave".

"I'll leave when I want to, you can't control what I do". Kurtis snorted.

"Kurtis, please," Lara pleaded, "I'll meet you later okay, at 9 o'clock". Quickly ending the call Lara flicked her phone to silence and threw it back into her bag.

"Idiot". Lara muttered as she began to make her way to suite 842 to meet Hadrian, praying that the bad feeling that was spinning around her stomach was not justified.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"There you are Lucy! I was wondering where you had got to, you've been a long time." Hadrian stated, pouring a glass of red wine from a decanter. "Thought you may have left".

"No of course not, I am much too interested in the sample," Lara responded, sitting down at a dining table and gracefully crossing her legs.

Turing his head slightly, Hadrian gave a little grin before walking towards Lara. Placing the glass carefully on the smooth rosewood table, Hadrian reached backwards to pick up a large file from the top of a drawer unit. Everything in the room looked expensive as though he were creating a museum of his own nauseating personality. Staying steadfast, Lara ignored the expensive tat, believing that anything of any value would surely be hidden away.

"Not drinking tonight?" Hardrian asked as he picked up his own glass to take a sip of the wine.

"I tend not to mix drinking with business," Lara stated, pushing the wine glass slightly across the table.

"Oh this isn't business Lucy, it is just a meeting of great minds," Hadrian said as he started to dig inside the file.

"I thought you said you had samples?" Lara asked intrigued by the file that Hadrian held.

"I do, well they are very small. Rare mineral we are dealing with here". Hadrian plucked a small self sealing bag from a plastic wallet. Inside the bag was approximately a tablespoon of bright golden granules mixed with what looked like ordinary sandy soil.

"What do you think?" Hadrian asked as he passed Lara the bag. Holding it between her fingers, Lara lifted it up to the light, the bag sparkled as the golden flecks in the soil turned slightly purple due to the light from the table lamp.

"Fascinating," Lara murmured. She wasn't lying for once trying to pretend that a bag of dirt was interesting. The way the light hit the bag made the fragments create a greater sense of awe than they did in a dimmer light. However, she had no idea what the fragments were. "Have you had these tested?"

"Yes, they have thrown up very interesting results," Hadrian took out a wad of printed results and began to lay them out on the table. "It matches no chemical element known to man. I'm hoping with a little help we can exploit this little beauty for what it is worth. Even if it doesn't offer the next big step in medical engineering, I'm sure if we melted it, it would make a lovely necklace...or ring don't you think?"

Lara looked up from the results to see that Hadrian was showing yet again an unnerving smile.

"Something you are not telling me, Mr. Wright?"

"Well, you see at the site we had some archeology students," Hadrian began leaning back on his chair.

"Really?" Lara raised her eyebrow. "I thought you didn't like archeologists".

"I don't! Horrible, self-satisfied individuals who don't want a proper job. If I could get away without hiring any, I would. Admittedly some of the things they talk about are fascinating, but there is just too much time faffing around with surveys and brushes. The only good to come out of their involvement is to put me in a good standing with the university," Hadrian stated firmly.

"Has it?"

"Has it what? Put me in a good standing? To a degree but the archeology lecturers at the university are completely useless. It seems as though they want to be a plague over the whole site."

Lara smiled. Thinking of Earl, it made sense that he would want to restrict information from Hadrian. She was sure that Hadrian would have no qualms about exploiting the area for what it may be potentially worth. What was that phrase Earl said? Lara thought 'no appreciation for repercussions of the historical kind'.

"Have you found anything then?" Lara asked quizzically.

"Actually, yes we have."

Too easy.

"And what have you found if you don't mind me asking?"

"Why do you want to know? You are not a secret archeologist are you?" Hadrian questioned cheekily.

"Just interested, that's all. You were just about to tell me before about the students, did they find something?" Lara replied.

"Hmm." Hadrian dove back into the file, pausing for a moment before retrieving a tatty brown map and two photographs. Leaning forward, Lara could see that the map contained plots of the Plain Jars with additional circles added in a green pen. The images showed the harimau ring.

"That's a beautiful ring," Lara declared as she peered down, trying to compare the images that Hadrian was holding to the ones that Earl had shown her a few weeks ago.

"It is, isn't it?" Hadrian paused for a second. "Would you excuse me? I need to make a quick call."

"Sure, go ahead," Lara replied as she watched Hadrian exit the room, leaving the map and the images on the table. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to grab some evidence and get out of Hadrian's suffocating personality; Lara swiftly picked up the map and the pictures stuffing them in her bag as she headed towards the door.

"And where do you think you are going, Croft?" Hadrian asked, leaning nonchalantly on the door frame. Lara was tired with the charades, there was no way that she was putting up with Hadrian any longer than she had to. Taking her pistols from the holsters on her skirt, she pointed them at Hadrian as she backed up towards the door.

"That was a quick call," Lara stated venomously.

"Do you really think it took me that long to know who you were? I realised who you were this afternoon. I must say you have kept me entertained all day; you should be an actress".

"I'd rather be an archeologist. Thanks for the suggestion anyway." Lara turned to open the door, preparing herself to run until she could get to the airport for Laos. Hadrian pulled a tranquilizer gun from his jacket pocket and aimed it at Lara who was exiting the suite. It was a direct hit. Shocked by the sudden sting in her back, Lara reached around whilst running to find a feathery dart lodged in her shoulder. Groaning as she pulled the dart out, she felt another sting on her thigh. By now Lara had begun to feel disoriented as she fell into the corridor wall. Trying to fight the rapidly approaching darkness, she attempted to continue running. It was a futile effort as the corridor disappeared into Lara's mind.

**ooOOoo**

Lara slowly began to lift her head with Hadrian's suite swaying in and out of a beige tinged focus. Instantly regretting that decision, Lara tried to rapidly blink the explosions occurring in her head away, only vaguely remembering how she had ended up back in Hadrian's suite. Opening her eyes, she looked down to see that she was sitting in a chair similar to one she had sat in previously during the sample unveiling. The map, Lara thought suddenly as she turned to the table at the side of her. Twisting her torso, Lara became aware that she could not move her hands as she tugged her arms tied to the chair.

"Rise and shine, Croft, time for a nightcap," Hadrian said suggestively from the mini bar as he sipped a glass of whiskey.

"What time is it?" Lara asked groggily.

"Eleven forty-five," Hadrian murmured uninterested. Lara thought of her promise to meet Kurtis earlier in the evening.

"Problem?"

"No, not at all," Lara smiled, her mind was a lot clearer now as the room returned to its normal saturation. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed that her pistols were lying on top of the mini bar with Hadrian making his way across the room. Vigorously he pulled her head up so Lara's eyes met his. Nothing was said as Hadrian sneered down annoyed, not because Lara was showing fear. No, Hadrian could contend with that. Instead Lara showed a degree of self importance through a small crooked smile that lit up her eyes.

"I have no idea what you are smiling about Lara. You're defenseless, you have no weapons, you can't hurt me," whispered Hadrian, his face only millimeters away from hers. Lara sneered.

"If we are going to carry on with this meeting, I'd appreciate it if you kept your saliva in your own mouth."

Standing back, Hadrian glared at Lara, he had never met anyone so conceited moments from death. He wasn't having his pride taunted by this harlot who happens to be nifty with a 9 mm he thought.

"See, it is easy, isn't it," smiled Lara as she cocked her head so Hadrian could get a better view of the smile that wound him up too easily. He had to laugh in response, she was unbelievable. Walking back towards her slowly, he held his head in his hands as he started to giggle to himself. His drastic change of emotion made Lara uneasy as he stood in front of her again giggling through his fingers. Suddenly he stopped, faux lighthearted emotion switched to pure rage as he hit her across the face, knocking her head to the side. Lara felt blood begin to pool around her mouth as her head tried to steady itself from the impact.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but trust me I don't need you creating problems when all I am trying to do is my job," Hadrian snapped as he pulled her head upwards and dropping it as if he was disgusted by the mere presence of her. Thinking he had finally shut her up, Hadrian kicked back on a nearby sofa, picking up a glossy magazine to flick through while he waited for Lara to become unconscious. Lara on the other hand was not as weakened as she made out to be, tilting her head upwards she spat a puddle of blood on the Bayside hotel's finest cream carpet. Much to surprise of Hadrian.

"I do apologise," Lara groaned. "Just send me the bill when the cleaners have sorted it."

That was it for Hadrian. He was no longer putting up with the insolent Lara Croft who not only refused to give up, but also ruined his carpet; for a house proud man it was perhaps the most insulting thing anyone could have done to him.

"Don't worry, I will. I hope your estate can pay out after your death because in a few minutes time that carpet will be wearing you."

"Oh, what a fabulous carpet it would be then; definite improvement to now," Lara sneered.

"Shut up, Lara!"

"If you are going to kill me, at least let me tell you a story."

"A what? You are getting delirious, lady," Hadrian said as he picked up his gun shaking his head.

"No wait. If you kill me now, then you'll always be wondering what I could have said."

"Trust me, I won't." Hadrian pointed the gun at her temples.

"Not even if it makes it all the more fulfilling dispatching me?" A slight pause filled the air before Hadrian lifted his gun. Playing to his sadistic side was far too easy, Lara thought.

"Go on, you have three minutes before the carpet has a mate." Hadrian reluctantly agreed slumping back on the nearby sofa.

"Thank you," Lara sighed, pretending to be a lot more nervous than she was. "Right, well once there was a little girl..."

"Called Lara..." Hadrian tiredly filled in.

"No, she was Ashley actually, this story isn't about me."

"Now there's a surprise, I thought the whole world revolved around you," Hadrian sarcastically chipped in.

"Now, now Hadrian even I'm not that self important," Lara cocked her head to the side. Her head still felt a little fuzzy and the taste of blood still lingered around her mouth. She had to push through.

"Go on".

"She was a lot like you," Lara began starting to loosen the knots that tied her hands to the chair. "She was very confident that she was the best around and hated it when people told her off." The string loosened slightly, but not as much as Lara hoped.

"And?" Hadrian was growing tired of this charade, he just wanted Lara out of the way so he could abandon the messed up suite and fly back to Laos.

"And one day everything went wrong for poor Ashley, she fell off her horse and injured nearly every part of her body." The string dropped to the floor as Lara's hands became free as she cracked her wrists and slowly leant forward.

"But do you know which part of her body was okay?" Lara asked Hadrian with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Enlighten me," Hadrian replied unenthusiastically.

Bringing both her hands to the front of her body with the palms facing Hadrian, she grinned once more, "her hands".

Suddenly Lara flipped forwards into a handstand, twisting her torso so the chair swung around and hit Hadrian who had barely moved off the sofa due to shock. The chair landed back on floor, which unfortunately did not break the front legs as Lara had hoped. Thinking quickly, she rolled sideways, hitting Hadrian again as he continued to shoot at her. This time the impact made Hadrian fall to the floor, losing control of his gun as it brushed against the stained carpet. Lara swiftly pushed the chair into Hadrian as she tried to untie the knots at her ankles.

"You are not getting away, Croft," Hadrian shouted pushing the chair off him which helped with the disattachment of the ties so Lara could roll towards the abandoned gun. Picking it up, she brought herself into a crouch; slowly rising to full height as Hadrian remained on the floor, staring upwards into his own gun.

"Really now?" Lara asked, she was starting bruise and a pain shot through her back. Yet she had felt and seen worst injuries and situations than this. "Where is the ring, Hadrian?" There was little point in stretching the night out further.

"I don't have it," Hadrian muttered as he remained on the ground.

"That wasn't my question," Lara spoke slowly trying to contain her anger, "I asked you where it was".

"I don't know".

"Yes you do." Lara voice became slightly louder. "You flaunted those images and that map before, so you know damn well were the harimau ring is!"

"So what if I did, why exactly do you want it?" Hadrian shouted back at Lara.

"The same reason as you".

"I doubt that very much".

"You doubt me too much," Hadrian's gun clicked in Lara's hand.

A single gunshot rang out in suite 842.

* * *

_Thanks go to Gyikhu for beta reading this chapter._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

A single bullet skimmed past Hadrian's shoulder, shattering a floor vase on impact. Dodging to avoid the flying shards of vase, Lara glanced up to find Kurtis with one of her pistols aimed at Hadrian. Both Lara and Hadrian were shocked by Kurtis's sudden entrance, momentarily forgetting their own heated discussion to turn towards the door.

"Woops," Kurtis stated.

"Who the hell are you?" Hadrian spluttered.

"Kurtis Trent, nice to meet you," Kurtis raised his hand in a mock salute to Hadrian, who was beginning to look meek in appearance.

"Run, Kurtis, Run." Lara shouted as she began to run for the door herself. Hadrian reached out to grab Lara's ankles, missing by a millimetre Lara stepped over his grab and swung her leg in a circular kick hitting Hadrian squarely in jaw, knocking him back into a cabinet unconscious.

"Very nice," Kurtis applauded watching Lara grab a file from the nearby table and her remaining pistol. "Are you going to leave him like that?"

"I'm not going to kill him if that's what you mean. I need him alive".

"Are you going to tell me what all this is about?"

"Soon," Lara muttered, at this stage there was little point in pretending she was on holiday. "However we need to get out of here, I can hear people coming up the stairs. Follow me".

Lara grabbed Kurtis's arm and dragged him down the corridor that a few hours ago she lay tranquillised in. Following a small flight of stairs the two nightly figures emerged into the Singaporean sky by the side of a rooftop pool. She restored her matching pistols to their holster, providing Kurtis with Hadrian's gun. Noticing a nearby bin, Lara kicked off her shoes and started to empty out the rubbish; burying her high-heeled shoes under a pile of left over magazines and fruit peelings.

"That's just nasty Lara," Kurtis noted watching in bewilderment at the scene in front of him.

"Until you are forced to eat left over chocolate bars lying around a city to survive, your opinions on what is and isn't nasty behavior is irrelevant." Lara quipped turning to give Kurtis a warning look. "We need to escape and I don't need anything left behind that indicates we were here tonight". Snapping a dried palm branch from a nearby tree, Lara placed the leaves into a decorative flame that circled the pool and lit a fire in the bin.

"Are you sure there are no CCTV around here?" Kurtis pondered.

"None on the roof, I checked placements yesterday".

Lara ran to the edge of the roof, her bare feet making soft tapping noises across the tiles. Peering between the high metal railing she could see that the way down involved a great deal of ledge grabbing and pure luck.

"You're okay with heights aren't you?" Lara said as she ripped both sides of her skirts to free her legs; Kurtis looked on again in bemusement."I can't move properly in this bloody skirt Kurtis, hence why I'm doing this." Lara signaled downwards towards the ruined garment. "Now come on, trust me I know how to get out of here".

Following Lara's lead, Kurtis climbed on to the metal railings and hopped over the top. Lara was already a floor below hanging on a ledge before jumping on a cable that connected to the high-rise building next to the Bayside hotel. Glancing through the window he was hanging from, Kurtis saw a mob of armed security guards running towards him. Quickly picking up the pace he pushed himself away from the wall praying that he would have contact with the cable during descent. Glass shattered around him as the security mob opened fire, feeling the cable brush under his hand Kurtis clenched his fist and pulled himself to the other building. Lara was already inside standing on the window cill of the 31st floor trying to distract the mob by aiming her own bullets at them. Swerving around the window frame Lara maneuvered out of the way of a well aimed bullet as she watched it smash into a wardrobe on the other side of the room. Lara was just about to reload when Kurtis threw himself through the window followed by another hailstorm of bullets.

"Little bit over dramatic don't you think?" Lara grinned as she crouched on the floor.

"Incase you haven't noticed we nearly died out there!" Kurtis loudly whispered.

"Nearly, we didn't though did we? Come on," The gunfire had stopped and Lara had decided now was a good time to pick up some speed.

"Is this another hotel?" Kurtis asked as he flicked his eyes up and down the destroyed wardrobe.

"Looks like it," Lara responded, "which means we should be able to escape fairly easily through service passages". Unlocking the door Lara stealthily hugged the hotel corridor with Kurtis in tow.

"When are you going to tell me what is going on," Kurtis asked again as he stopped mid step to watch Lara climb up to an air vent.

"I can ask you the same thing," came an echoey voice from the air vent.

"International woman of mystery," sighed Kurtis to himself as he vaulted upwards to follow the bare feet in front of him.

The pair travelled along the vent for approximately twenty minutes, weaving in and out of corners. Carefully dropping down when the passage allowed. At first the only sound present were dull thuds caused by Lara's and Kurtis's joints pressing on the metal surfaces. Yet as they transcended further down a vibration could be felt though the vent; growing louder and louder into audible music and frivolities as they crawled closer to an opening. Peering through the bars, Lara observed the scene below.

"Oh shit, it's a wedding Kurtis," Lara exclaimed.

"Can't we go any further?" Kurtis rolled back on his heels as if he were escaping the noises from below.

"No this is it."

"Only one thing to do then." Declared Kurtis.

"You have got to be joking! Shall we make it any more obvious that we are runaways. Those guards from the Bayside will be in here now for sure."

"And they would hate to disrupt a wedding wouldn't they?" Kurtis replied sarcastically.

Exhaling a large nervous breath of air, Lara knew that this was the only way out. Her back continued to ache from Hadrian's assault earlier on in the night. Nevertheless Lara began to lift the metal grid. In one swift movement she slid down and landed gracefully on the dance floor as a chorus of screams rang out.

"Don't panic!" Shouted Kurtis as he jumped down, "We are just checking the ventilation system, all's good, carry on! Cheers to the happy couple!" Kurtis picked up a half filled champagne flute from a nearby table, drank it and proceeded to run out of the door. Much to the astonishment of the elderly woman whose champagne flute it was.

"Same from me!" Lara cried as she too exited the function room. She couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Escaping the hotel now was easy as they sprinted down three flights of stairs and out into the humid Singaporean air. Sticking her arm out, Lara hailed a passing taxi and climbed into the backseat followed closely by Kurtis, checking at all times that they were not being followed.

"Where to?" The taxi driver said abruptly. Lara provided Russell's address and the taxi swiftly performed a U-turn and headed towards Pasir Panjang, a long coastal area in South West Singapore.

"So, what's going on? I need an answer now" Asked Kurtis, he was eager to get some reasoning why he was running around Singapore.

"I wasn't lying to you before, it is just business." Lara said dabbing a wound on her leg with the edge of her torn skirt.

"It's hardly a cosy meeting of coffee and spreadsheets though is it?"

"I hate spreadsheets."

"Lara, just answer the question. Please for the sake of my limbs." Kurtis joked.

Lara picked at the corner of Hadrian's file deciding the best way to explain her assignment.

"Have you heard of the Plain of Jars in Laos?" Lara began continuing to look downwards.

"Never".

"They are Iron age jars that appear in clusters on the Xieng Khouang plateau, quite significant jars as they are studied to reveal the nature of Iron age South-East Asia. A professor contacted me about a discovery one of his students had made there." Lara opened the file to find the photo of the harimau ring that Hadrian had shown her before. She passed it over to Kurtis looking not at him but to the flying images outside the window.

"Very nice. What has it got to do with you though?"

"The ring is supposed to have some kind of power, a knowledge transfer system. Apparently it was used to increase proficiency in the science and arts. That is why I believe the jars are culturally significant. I don't believe that is the whole story though".

"What do you mean?" Kurtis questioned as he watched Lara return to Hadrian's file to pull out the small bag of golden granules. "What the hell is that?"

"No idea but I am sure it has something to do with the ring and I don't want Hadrian to go near the ring."

"Is he the idiot from the hotel?"

Lara nodded in agreement, "Aside from the fact that I want it, Hadrian is a shady bastard who would exploit it for all it's worth".

"Nothing like you are doing, swiping the world's treasures for your own private dusty museum?" Kurtis quipped.

"Are you with me or not? Because if you are not you can get out now," warned Lara.

"Just making sure you are not taking the moral high ground in this adventure". Kurtis retorted leaning back into the car seat.

"I would be keeping it safe, preserving it. That's all".

Kurtis didn't respond, he knew that there was little to gain in arguing the topic of Lara's career further.

"Anyway enough with one-sided interrogation, how did you find me?" Lara asked, she was happy that there was an opportunity to change the conversation.

"Your phone signal, I was able to trace it to an approximate area when you didn't turn up at Raffles." Kurtis replied emotionless, he did not believe that Lara needed to know all the details of how he found her.

"Some technology there Mr Trent if you can pin point the actual room at such speed, are you sure your supernatural twitchy whiskers weren't flickering away?"

"You know I can't do things like that, that's not my talent." Kurtis remained stony faced in response to Lara's sarcastic comment. Noticing the tense atmosphere, she decided that now was perhaps not the time to ask why, but to be grateful that her body wasn't decorating Hadrian's carpet.

"Thank you anyway," Lara's gentle whisper came from the darkened corner of the taxi as it pulled up to a small white detached house, flanked by palm trees.

"That'll be twenty-seven dollars," The taxi driver snapped, his mood had not changed during the journey.

"Do you have anything to pay him with?" Lara asked as she realised all her money was burnt earlier on in the evening along with her shoes and bag.

"Not a dime".

"Well this is fantastic," Lara remarked, the taxi driver continued to peer around the driver's seat.

"Do something quick because he is freaking me out," Kurtis whispered.

"Okay, okay," Lara mumbled removing the gold watch from her wrist, "Have this, it is more than enough." Shoving the watch into the taxi driver's palm she pushed open the door and slammed it shut ignoring the complaints from the driver.

"What's he moaning about, he can buy a new car with that watch. Why did you give it away?" Kurtis questioned as Lara pushed the door bell.

"Desperate times, plus we have probably bought our silence now if anyone has seen us."

The door opened to a sleepy Russell dressed in a blue silk kimono. Took by surprise at Lara's raggedy appearance, he lurched forward to hug her in his sleepy state.

"Oh god Lara what's happened? Are you okay? Come inside quickly." Russell put his arm around Lara's shoulders and escorted her inside. Kurtis remained on the doorstep astonished by Russell's over friendliness, feeling a pang of jealously that she allowed Russell to care for her like that; knowing that if he did the same he would have been reduced to an ant by her sarcastic comments. Following the pair inside Kurtis perched on the edge of a kitchen counter while Russell went upstairs for painkillers and bandages. Lara felt Kurtis's eyes glaring into the side of her head, she turned to begin questioning his mood but Kurtis was already miles ahead.

"Who the hell is that?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"You have to be kidding me," Lara exclaimed opened mouthed, she was unsure how to respond to Kurtis's apparent jealously.

"I just need to know," Kurtis replied abruptly.

"Russell is Winston's son, for gods sake Kurtis grow up." Lara slouched down in the kitchen chair to ease her back slightly. Hadrian certainly had a good aim, a point that Lara had mentally noted down.

"I don't think I'm the one who needs to grow up Lara. You think the world is your playground and you can take what you want; but you can't, you just can't. Kurtis whispered harshly, he was aware of the footsteps descending down the stairs.

"Maybe I do, but do you not think I live with the consequences? Everything is a risk in life, you just need to evaluate them," Lara shot Kurtis an angry glare, "Maybe you should start to do the same".

"You know what maybe I do, starting with helping you, it's like walking around with a death note on my head being within thirty yards of you. Consider me out." Kurtis stormed out into the small courtyard at the back, leaving Lara in a conundrum whether she was glad that Kurtis was finally not following her around. At that moment, she couldn't care less.

"Everything okay?" Russell enquired as he set to work on Lara's wounds.

"Yes, yes, just the usual...hazards of the job."

Russell gave her a questioning look, he knew that wounds that adorned her body did not come from working on a field site.

"So why did you come here? You have a lovely suite at Raffles to go to; I know I said pop in for dinner, but I think you have missed it by a couple of hours!"

"I'm so sorry Russ, I don't mean to be a burden." Lara said with a slight sadness in her voice.

"I'm joking Lara, relax! I'm guessing you didn't feel safe there, in your suite?" Russell had learnt from his father that the less you asked, the better the conversation flowed.

"Not really, I'm flying to Laos tomorrow; will you do me a big favour and email your father to ask him to set up some transport? I've lost my phone so I can't do much until I get to my suite."

Russell agreed without hesitation as he continued to wipe and patch up Lara's lightly tanned skin. His attention was drawn to a cluster a floating smoke rings that fluttered past the open back door.

"Who's that?" Russell asked.

"Collateral damage," Lara muttered as she watched Russell dab iodine on her shoulder. The mustard yellow liquid ran into her blouse, dying yet another limited spare space of white fabric. Russell glanced up with a questioning look, collateral damage was never a good thing.

"He's someone I know from a while back, he kind of help me in when I was on the run that one time". Lara corrected

"You never did explain that fully, where did you go? Not even my dad knows, and he knows everything that goes on!"

"European mini break, that's all," Lara smiled, "Right, I think I'm done now." Lara shrugged her blouse back on her shoulders, thanked Russell for all his help and began to make her way upstairs to the room that Russell had set up for her.

"Well, that's politeness for you," Kurtis brooded, leaning on the door frame and flicking back a stand of black hair that had fallen over his eyes.

"I won't lie, I don't know you and I don't know what you want; but I don't trust you." Russell said, keeping his distance from the shadowy figure.

"Look, I'm only here because I need to be; but she is making it so damn hard to be around her."

"Probably because she doesn't want you around her, ever think about that?"

"I need to be".

"Why? I need to be isn't a good reason." Russell raised his tone of voice to indicate his distrust of Kurtis. Kurtis shook his head, it was Lara he needed to speak to, not her minion.

"Fine, I get it you don't want to say. Just please, do me a favour and be truthful to her. I've not seen her like this for many years, not since she came back from Japan actually."

"I will," Kurtis stated without a hint of emotion, "but you should ask Lara to be truthful, not me". Kurtis walked past Russell and up the small flight of stairs.

"Where the hell do you think you're going? This is my house!" Russell harshly whispered.

"Don't worry, my ass will be snuggled right up on that sofa after I've freshened up." Kurtis followed Russell's reluctant directions to the bathroom. Or at least he pretended to.

ooOOoo

Lara shrugged off her tattered blood stained blouse, throwing it in a crumpled heap on the floor ready to be disposed of in the morning. Russell had done an excellent job of cleaning up her wounds with only a few bruises and closing cuts to remind her of the nights activity. The small bedside light illuminated the room with a soft vanilla light that reflected off faint silvery scars that scattered across Lara's body; mistakes, lucky escapes and memories of adventures gone. She gazed silently at the mirror, flicking her attention to one, perhaps two, in particular. A large section of crumpled skin on her left lower torso, held together with a sliver line. She touched the skin, but there were no sensations from it, the nerve endings had been damaged for too long now. A similar patch graced her lower back like a mirror image, a stamp of survival. Lara had reluctantly learnt to accept that scar, rather than being part of the job, the crumpled skin dug deeper and was a lot more personal than any other injury. It marked the start of her personal development from an eager university graduate to battle hardened adventurer. She sometimes wondered how different her life would had been if, eleven years ago, she didn't suggest to the Endurance crew to sail so close to the Dragon's triangle to uncover Himiko's secrets. Lara was a big believer of fate, as horrible as it was, Yamatai happened for a reason. In a morbid way, it opened opportunities for her, allowing Lara to become her own master, creating a public opinion of herself as a highly intellectual woman who happened to have a considerable inheritance that allowed her to meet her wanderlust ways. As the years passed, Lara had noted that she had become almost an urban myth.

A click of the door handle broke Lara away from her personal reflection as Kurtis slipped through the door.

"Don't you ever think of knocking?" Lara exclaimed as she snatched the worn blouse off the floor to cover her chest.

"I thought you'd be asleep," whispered Kurtis, shutting the door behind him. He was considerably calmer than when he hauled abuse at her half an hour ago.

"That doesn't make your intentions any better, makes them worst in fact. What do you want? I thought you didn't want to hang around with the walking death note".

"I just wanted to...check how you are."

"While I slept? Is it your personal mission to be the creepiest stalker I know of?"

"Well no...not intentionally anyway," Kurtis muttered as his eyes caught the collection of scars on Lara's body. "My god Lara what the hell happened to your side?"

"It was an accident I had when I was younger that's all." Lara was not in the mood to discuss her past life and Kurtis sensed the uneasiness in the air, holding his hands up in mock surrender, backing out of the room.

"Stop shutting people out Lara, one day they won't be there anymore." Kurtis said, leaving Lara still holding a bloodstained blouse to her chest. Snorting at his comment, she continued to undress thinking about what needed to be done when she arrived in Laos.

"I'm always alone, it wouldn't make much of a difference."


End file.
